Taking a year off before grad school?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Another reason to take a year off and teach high school is that you might find out you love it: if what you love is teaching, not research or writing, then there is a LOT to be said for teaching 16-18 year olds instead of 18-20 year olds: you will make 3X as much money (easily); you will be working with other people who love teaching, not people that see it as a penalty they have to pay to have their real goal, research time; you will have much wider freedom to live where you like; you will have job security and you will not be competeing with 300-400 people for any position above adjunct instructor at a junior college–a competition where your research skills (not your passion) will be weighed much more heavily than your teaching skills (your passion).

Perhaps most interestingly, you can easily end up teaching a much higher caliber of student/much higher level of material: my husband is a grad studnet in Humanities, I am an English teacher in a public high school. He teaches Freshman comp: I teach the AP equivilant, AP Language and Composition. My class is many times more complex and rigorous than his, and his is the standard at a good 4 year state school, and is itself head and shoulders above a community college in terms of rigor. I teach in one of the largest school districts in the nation, not some suburban enclave where it’s hard to get a job teaching AP, and every year I have kids go to Ivy League schools and every year they tell me they were prepared, at least in English.

I am not saying that high school is a happy wonderland–it’s not for my husband, who thrives in a strictly academic atmosphere and who values being part of a university community. But if you are willing to give High School a chance, you should try it because if you hate it, you’ll have learned something and not lost much, but if you love it, you will have simplified your life.

Even if you love teaching HS, you can still go to grad school, of course, but it means you’ll have the option to do what you apparently love, teaching, sooner.

22

I took two years off between my BSc and MSc, partly to work and earn some money, but also to sort out exactly what I wanted to do next. It worked out well for me, since I taught during those two years (mathematics and physics) at the high school level, and then went on to do an MSc in computer science. I don’t regret taking time off in the least; it helped me get some perspective on a real job, allowed me to do some part-time distance education courses in computer science, and of course it allowed me to earn some money, which came in very handy. I needed the space and the time to grow up and be able to handle the requirements of being self-motivated student, and I’m happy with the way it’s turned out for me. YMMV, as always, but if you’re tired and possibly a bit burned out, and finances are low, it might be a good idea. I don’t see how teaching in your field during a year away from academics would harm either your academic or job prospects; I’d expect this to enhance them - shows dedication and clarity and all that good stuff.

23

I recommend going to a career/guidance counselor and having that person help you find out what you really want to do. You don’t sound like you really want a Ph.D. nor do you sound like you really want to teach college. If you find out you do…then you’ll have some concrete reasons that will help motivate you and help you set goals. If you don’t…then you will not have spent a lot of time and money on something you don’t really want.

24

[QUOTE=pprgrl]

Anyway, I’m doing pretty well in school and my academic advisor is pushing me pretty hard to just go straight to grad school - she’s suggesting that I apply to places like Columbia and NYU and other big name schools. But I’m really thinking that it might be best for me to take a year off first. I’m pretty burned out right now, and I miss being able to have some sort of a life that isn’t just work-school-sleep, work-school-sleep.
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Well, first of all, is Columbia or NYU a realistic option for you? These schools are highly competetive and it doesn’t sound like you are that much of an over-achiever (no offense). Not to say that other good schools wouldn’t be an option for you.

I say go as soon as you can, unless you get a job in a field you are interested in which would allow you to see if you actually like it.

25

[QUOTE=msmith537]
Well, first of all, is Columbia or NYU a realistic option for you? These schools are highly competetive and it doesn’t sound like you are that much of an over-achiever (no offense). Not to say that other good schools wouldn’t be an option for you.

I say go as soon as you can, unless you get a job in a field you are interested in which would allow you to see if you actually like it.
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None taken, but I didn’t put my academic resume into the OP either. Let’s see: Composition Student of the Year, Phi Theta Kappa Student of the Year, editor of the honors college newsletter, two-time recipient of the largest academic scholarship offered by the honors college, graduated magna cum laude with my AA, expect to get same for my BA, served in several school organizations, and I’m in the process of revising some of my research for publication. Not the biggest over-achiever out there, but I think I hold my own. My advisor wouldn’t be recommending these schools if she didn’t think I had a good chance of getting accepted and doing well. She’s certainly not the first person to suggest that I try for Ivy League. Several of my professors tried to talk me into aiming higher for my undergrad degree, but at the time I really wanted to stay in this area.

I’m not worried about being able to compete academically. I’m just tired, and worried about money. And yes, teaching college is most definitely what I want to do with my life. No matter how much I get worn down by the academic grind, I can’t imagine being out of it for more than a year or two, tops. I say that I think I could be happy teaching community college not because I don’t think I could make it a traditional university. I know that I could kick ass teaching at a traditional university. It’s because I’m all too aware that, despite what it may say on that little bronze plaque in the bursar’s office, higher education in America is most certainly not equal access and equal opportunity. At the community college I attended I met many students who were just as motivated and intelligent as I am, and many who were more so, but didn’t have the opportunity to start out at a more prestigious school. If I teach community college, I want to do it so I can help students who were like me and the people I went to school with, kids with limited finances or bad family lives or non-trads who are nervous about being back in the classroom after being out in the real world for so long. You know, those people who have been told their whole lives that higher education just isn’t for them - no matter how smart or motivated they are. It’s not that I’m afraid of publishing or I’m too lazy to do research. I just want to be able to help where it’s most needed.

Sorry about my little rant. But I think it’s made me realize that maybe I shouldn’t postpone grad school. Taking a year off might let me recharge a little bit, but it’s starting to seem like I’d also just be sitting around, waiting for my real life to begin again. Oh ghod, this means I have to hurry up and register for the damn GRE…

26

.

I could have said this very thing a few years ago. I believed it absolutely.

Now that I’m 3/4 of the way through grad school, I realize how very, very wrong I was. There are a few people in my department who are there for their 3rd or 4th year, for various reasons, and they scare me–because I’m terrified of getting stuck there, too.

Believe it or not, I’m not trying to talk you out of grad school. i hated when well-meaning people tried to talk me out of it. Just be aware that my story isn’t exactly uncommon…

27

I’d recommend postponing grad school to experience how crap the regular work world can be, but you’ve already done that (IME, MA students straight out of school and 23 tend to whine more about how tough it is, while people who worked crap jobs for a while are thankful to be able to sleep in until 8 AM)
If you just want to teach CC, though, why bother with Columbia or NYU? Over the PhD program at a place like that you will be expected to desperately want to raise little brilliant grad students of your own at some gigantic sink or swim, publish or perish research-one. If you mention a CC career your advisor will toss you out of the office. Why not go someplace that will foster more of a sense of teaching? Just because you can get into an Ivy doesn’t mean you should.

28

I took several years off before grad school. Not really intentionally – I didn’t know I wanted to go to law school at the time. But having those years to be self-sufficient was a very good education in and of itself. I don’t know that I’d be so happy with my life if I’d gone straight to law school (or entered some of the other grad programs I was toying with).

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

29

I’d say yes to the time off, especially if you plan to get some teaching experience in the meantime. I didn’t take any time off, and I was fine for the first three or four years of the Ph.D. program, but there comes a time when you just get burned out, and I spent the first two years when I was supposed to be writing my dissertation doing absolutely nothing. It worked out OK in my case – I got the degree before my funding ran out – but in general, it’s best to take your time off while you’re not officially enrolled in a degree program, and it’s a fair bet that you’ll need some time to recharge sooner or later.

One caveat is that if you’ve started taking a foreign language that you plan to continue studying in grad school, you probably do want to keep taking classes in that language without a break – but you can usually do that without being enrolled in a full-time degree program.

Because of the glut of qualified job candidates in English, you’re generally better off having the PhD even to teach at a CC. Schools can have their pick of the candidates.

30

[QUOTE=Fretful Porpentine]
One caveat is that if you’ve started taking a foreign language that you plan to continue studying in grad school, you probably do want to keep taking classes in that language without a break – but you can usually do that without being enrolled in a full-time degree program.
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Serious question: Would living abroad/regularly using that language at work be considered equally effective to taking college courses in the language? I ask, because I use Spanish at work about 30% of the time, and I’m trying to do an internship in Ecuador for 6 months following that, and then work in Spanish again when I come back and go through the graduate applications process. Do you think that will be sufficient, or should I continue classes as well after I return?

I actually might not be studying Spanish in grad school at all–but will be seeking a degree that will enable me to use it regularly (social work, public policy, development, etc.) I’m just trying to figure out a way to keep myself constantly using the language throughout. I know from experience that time off from school can cause a significant loss of skill when it comes to foreign language.

31

I’d say, take the year off. If you’re feeling that burnt out, you need the time off. My situation is only analagous–I’ve never been to grad school, but midway through my junior year as an undergrad, I was completely burnt out and took a year off. I came back to school 9 months later, completely recharged, and finished off the last year and a half with the best academic quarters (well, trimesters, really) I’ve had in college.

A little rest can go a long way.

32

I went straight to college and then into the corporate world after graduation. For the next six years I worked, went to school part-time, got laid off, finished an MS, started work again, and then went into a PhD. The work->school transition wasn’t an issue for me, perhaps because I was sorta doing both the whole time, but really I think because I was doing something in school that I wanted to be doing. I’m in CS, so I was programming at work, and then programming at school. For some people grad school is a series of classes they need to get thru to get a job, and in that case I could see why the transition would be harder.

Anyhow, I do think you should be upfront with your advisor about that fact that your interests are in teaching and not research. The amount of teaching responsibilities given to TAs varies greatly across universities and departments, they should know this to help you decide where to apply. I’d also see what they have to say about the value of teaching for a year – I can tell you that there’s a student in my department who taught high school for at least 5 or 6 years before he came here, and he’s had no problem getting choice TA assignments.

33

The reason that your academic advisor is pushing you is not just that it is her ‘job’ but that the stats I was shown of the attrition rate of people taking time off is tremendous. I can’t remember what it was exactly (and this was many years ago) but something over 50% of people intending to go to grad school who took time off didn’t actually go. The ‘conventional wisdom’ was that if you didn’t push right through, you wouldn’t make it.

This is the reason you might be being pushed so hard to do it.

Btw, I went your route. I went to college, took 2 years off to teach high school. Went back and got my Master’s, then taught at a community college for 6 years.

It has its attraction. The stress is low, lots of time off. Since I was Math, a master’s degree was acceptable (if you were English, for example, you pretty much still needed a Ph.D to get a job there). Discipline problems near nonexistant.

I left though because of the negatives:

  • The pay tends to suck donkey dicks. Many times it is even worse than High school teachers received.

  • Everybody wants to do it…therefore it is tough to get a job at one particular place so you need to search nationally for a job and go where you find one.

  • If you are a white male, ohhhhh boy. Good luck.

  • The students are pretty low on the motivation and IQ scale. Think High School with the upper half ability students removed. You teach extremely few that have any interest in the subject (remember - I taught Math).

  • You teach pretty low level classes over and over. It really does start to get boring no matter how you try to spice it up (I refused to use the same textbook more than 2 times just to make it different for me).

  • They always find a reason not to give you your ‘steps’ and inflation increases (if given) are small, below inflation and they are rare. New people hired tend to make more than you because they are actually given their steps for their experience while you are not…causing you to look at switching jobs so you can get it as well.

Not saying you shouldn’t do it…just be aware of what you are considering. My ‘quasi-retirement plan’ is too look at going back to do it when I hit 50-55.

34

[QUOTE=BlinkingDuck]
I can’t remember what it was exactly (and this was many years ago) but something over 50% of people intending to go to grad school who took time off didn’t actually go.
[/QUOTE]

And what’s wrong with that, in and of itself? If you don’t go back, I assume it’s because you discovered the working world is more for you. You can get a taste of both and decide which is better.